The Lincoln Town Car is a big American luxury car. The Town Car is appealing for its spacious six-person seating and cavernous trunk, with plenty of storage for luggage and golf clubs. This is a traditional American luxury sedan. It's roomy and comfortable. It's smooth and stable. Its V8 engine and rear-wheel-drive layout give it a traditional feel. And it's luxurious.

People who buy Town Cars like them; The Town Car is the highest-rated American car in the mid-luxury segment, according to a J.D. Power and Associates customer-satisfaction study; 60 percent of all Town Car customers are repeat buyers. Some 75 percent of limousine and livery fleets are made up of this large American luxury sedan. Yet individuals still account for more than 65 percent of all Town Car sales.

After significant re-engineering for 2003, the Town Car has changed very little. Last year each trim level got a new set of wheels. Changes for 2007 are limited to new paint colors.

The Town Car boasts a record Five-Star federal safety rating in five categories for four years in a row (2003-06).

Model Lineup

Walk Around

The Lincoln Town Car is every bit as big as the cars people once thought Detroit would never build again. Need some figures for proof? The 1961 slab-sided, suicide-door Continental that has become an American icon rode on a wheelbase of 123 inches and weighed 4,927 pounds; the 2007 Lincoln Town Car Signature L stretches three-quarters of an inch longer and weighs only 409 pounds less. And at 4,129 pounds, the lightest short-wheelbase 2007 Town Car weighs only 36 pounds less than the great road-racing Lincolns of the early 1950s.

Machined-aluminum wheels highlight the Town Car at every trim level. Signature gets 12-spoke rims, while Signature Limited and long-wheelbase Signature L get a 10-spoke design. The Designer series comes with chrome-plated 18-spoke wheels.

High-intensity discharge lamps are available, and they double the output of the standard halogen lights.

Little has changed since Lincoln last re-styled the Town Car for the 2003 model year. Up front, a chromed, waterfall-style grille is flanked by quad-beam headlamps with a jeweled appearance. A stand-up four-point star hood ornament reminds owners that they are driving a Lincoln. The Division tried to retire the stand-up ornament earlier in the decade, but customers complained that they used it as a lane marker on the road and, to better locate the front of the car's long hood when parking.

The trunk lid opening is wide and low to make loading and unloading easier. Inside the trunk, the spare tire is stowed vertically behind the right rear tire, so you don't have to unload the trunk to get at it. A covered and removable storage tray fills the deepest part of the trunk well. When in position, the tray's cover raises the trunk floor and thus makes loading and unloading easier.

Interior

The Town Car interior is plush and luxurious. It hasn't changed since the 2003 model year when it was redesigned with a new dashboard and instrument panel. It's a nice design. The instrument panel is elegant, even fun to look at. There's plenty of burl walnut veneer all around the interior, plus brushed satin metal panels, and a winged analog clock at the top center of the dash.

The up-level wood-and-leather steering wheel features buttons for cruise, audio, and climate controls. The instruments feature large, easy-to-read numbers. A digital speedometer easily monitors your speed as you drive quickly and quietly down the road.

The doors open wide to make it easy to get out of the front and rear seats. Storage space abounds: A fold-down front armrest with a double-hinged top can be opened to either the driver's or passenger's side. Cupholders and a storage tray come out from the front edge of the center front seat. Storage pouches are sewn into the front cushion of the front seats. There are also hinged storage bins in the front doors, a large glove box. Atlas-sized pockets in the front seatbacks, and a fold-down rear armrest with storage and cupholders.

The interior is very quiet, with thick insulation in the floor, firewall and pillars. This allows maximum fidelity from the 145-watt Alpine sound system, which includes AM, FM, cassette and single CD play (a trunk-mounted six-disc changer is optional on all models except Signature). The audio system offers CD and cassette players for buyers who enjoy books on tape.

Lincoln is selling several different kinds of luxury with the new Town Car, starting with its quietness, materials, and pure spaciousness, and the Signature L has more of that than any other luxury car on the market. Its rear-seat armrest contains controls for the rear climate control and the audio system, two additional 12-volt power points, an ashtray and lighter in each door, and a separate control that can adjust the fore/aft position of the right front seat. Heated rear seats are standard on the Signature L.

Driving Impressions

Lincoln wants the character of all of its vehicles to be similar, so drivers will know they're driving a Lincoln regardless of whether the vehicle is a Town Car, an MKZ sedan, or a Navigator SUV. To make to soft-sprung Town Car handle like more youthful Lincolns, the Division has given it hydroformed rails for the front part of the frame, relatively lightweight front suspension components mounted to a cast-aluminum cross member, monotube shock absorbers, powerful front brakes, carefully selected tires, sophisticated body and suspension mounts and variable-ratio rack-and-pinion steering.

All Town Cars have the same engine, a 239-hp 4.6-liter V8. The four-speed automatic transmission produces quick downshifts. The engine and transmission in our Signature L moved the big car from place to place quietly and efficiently, but lacked excitement and do not represent the current state of the art. Other cars in this class come with more powerful engines with a great deal of technical sophistication. The new paradigm in transmissions is five speeds, not four, with full electronic control of upshifting and downshifting and an electronic torque management program for smoothness. The Town Car transmission has partial electronic controls and only four speeds, which offers less flexibility, eats into gas mileage and dates the car.

The suspension system, which includes automatic load leveling in the rear, keeps the car relatively flat in the corners and provides a smooth, quiet highway ride and substantial amounts of understeer, just the right thing for a big, long, heavy car. However, while ABS and traction control are standard equipment, the chassis and suspension are completely devoid of any type of electronic yaw control system like almost all of its price and class competitors have, and it offers no electronically variable shock absorbers like those that come on the Cadillacs. Years ago Lincoln promised increase power, an upgraded transmission and yaw-control technology, but we haven't seen it.

The Town Car offers what Lincoln describes as a creamy on-center feel to its steering while cruising down the Interstate, and it requires little effort to turn into parking spots. But steering and body movements are reasonably controlled for driving on curving country lanes and mountain roads. Careful positioning of the rear shock absorbers, plus directional rear body mounts, has reduced the tendency of many rear-drive, live-axle cars to hop sideways in tight turns. The Town Car belies its size and weight when pushed through the curves in the hill country. The modestly sized P225/60R-17 all-purpose tires are very quiet and relatively grippy. It's not just a Town Car; it's also a Country Car. Lincoln designed the latest Town Car to appeal more to younger, enthusiast drivers, but traditional customers should not notice any deterioration in the soft ride they expect and enjoy.

The brake pedal is responsive, completely without that when-is-this-thing-going-to-stop feeling and the high pedal pressure that was prevalent in older-generation full-size cars. Braking performance is exemplary for a 4500-pound sedan. The braking system features 12.0-inch ventilated discs in front, 11.5-inch ventilated discs at the rear, with stiff twin-piston calipers a large vacuum booster. The system comes with Brake Assist, which delivers maximum braking force when it detects quick, hard brake pedal inputs. ABS (antilock brake system) is, of course, standard. Brake pads are formulated not only for long wear but to produce less dust, so owners who insist on immaculate wheels may not have to wash them as frequently.

The Lincoln Town Car is the only game in town if you are in the market for a large, traditional American rear-wheel-drive V8 luxury car. The Town Car remains the vehicle of choice for limousine services and for conservative buyers who want lots of room and a soft and quiet ride. It appeals to businessmen and women who need to carry lots of people and cargo but who also enjoy the driver's seat. But buyers looking for technical sophistication in a luxury sedan may find themselves looking elsewhere.